Week three of the Monmouth/Rutgers football seasons saw Monmouth's dream take a giant step forward. Meanwhile, Rutgers' dream at least did not take another step backward.
The respective dreams: for Monmouth, another Northeast Conference championship; for Rutgers, further gains in its program's respectability.
This week's outcomes: At Moon Stadium, Moon Township, PA: Monmouth 29, Robert Morris 27. And at Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers 29, Kent State 21.
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Monmouth
The Hawks entered Saturday's contest ranked number three in the nation in The Sports Network's 1-AA Mid-Major Top-10 Poll. Robert Morris was ranked number two, while the University of Dayton was ranked number one. By virtue of Monmouth's victory over Robert Morris, and Dayton's 24-17 loss to Yale, Monmouth moved into the number one spot this week. (See table below.) The Hawks are now off to a 3-0 start.
Monmouth's win Saturday over Robert Morris instantly became known as the "miracle in Moon." With 23 seconds remaining in the game, RMU scored what appeared to everyone to be the winning touchdown, to take a 27-23 lead. But the winning score it would not to be!
Monmouth took possession of the ensuing kickoff on its own 36 yard line, with 23 seconds remaining in the contest. Two 32-yard passes later, the Hawks were in the RMU end zone with the winning score and no time on the clock. Both passes were caught by wide receiver, Tim Hiltwine. The second reception was a trick play -- a "Hail Mary" with a twist, a purposely tipped deflection in the end zone.
Miles Austin, Monmouth's premier wide receiver, a preseason All-Northeast Conference selection and a Division 1-AA All-America candidate, had another great outing. Austin had five receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He also blocked a RMU punt that he then returned for another touchdown. And to cap the day, Austin was the player who tipped the ball to Hiltwine for the winning Hawk score.
Monmouth quarterback, Brian Boland, went 15 for 26 on the day, with three touchdowns and one interception. After three games, Boland is ranked number two in the nation in Division 1-AA passing efficiency. Ratings
Monmouth tries to go out to a 4-0 start on Saturday in a contest against Stony Brook University. Kickoff is 1:00 PM (ET) at Kessler Field in West Long Branch.
Prev.
Rank School Record Points Rank
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1 Monmouth (NJ) 3-0 213 3
2 Dayton (OH) 2-1 196 1
3 Duquesne (PA) 2-1 169 4
4 Robt. Morris (PA) 2-1 156 2
5 Wagner (NY) 3-0 134 8
6 San Diego (CA) 1-2 86 5
7 Cent. Conn. (CT) 2-1 53 NR
8 Drake (IA) 1-2 51 7
9 St. Francis (PA) 2-1 46 NR
10 Valparaiso (IN) 2-2 45 6
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Rutgers
Rutgers bounced back last week from its upset loss on 9/11 to the University of New Hampshire. On Saturday evening at home, the Scarlet Knights were 29-21 winners against Kent State University of the Mid-American Conference, to go 2-1 on the season.
Rutgers defense recorded eight sacks and forced eight fumbles, three of which Kent State lost. However, even with this defensive dominance, Rutgers really never put Kent State away the way it should have.
At 38, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is the youngest person in charge of a Division 1-A program in the nation. Schiano has been a highly effective recruiter, and the Scarlet Knights now have the quality and depth of personnel to be competitive with most teams in the country. So the breakdowns in the New Hampshire and Kent State games suggest there might be some coaching issues that Rutgers must resolve.
Rutgers has an open date this week, before returning to action on Saturday, 10/2, with an away game against Syracuse. This will mark the first Big East game of the season for the Scarlet Knights.
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